HomeFalling In LoveZhui Luo - Chapter 78

Zhui Luo – Chapter 78

When Zhou Wan first saw that news and the comments below, she was indeed panicked, guilty, and self-blaming.

But when she saw that tattoo shop through the rain curtain, she suddenly thought of what birthday gift she could give Lu Xixiao.

Back on her 17th birthday, Lu Xixiao had tattooed her name on his collarbone.

Now on his 27th birthday, Zhou Wan tattooed his name on her collarbone.

Lu Xixiao had once said what made him agree to break up back then.

He desperately walked toward Zhou Wan, but from beginning to end, all she thought about was how to leave.

But now, through thousands of days and nights, Zhou Wan finally held Lu Xixiao’s hand again and also held the hand of that youth sitting in the hospital on that early summer evening in May.

This time she no longer said, “Let’s break up, brother.”

Instead, “I won’t back away anymore, Lu Xixiao.”

When you rush towards me, I’ll also run flying towards you.

I’ll never leave you alone again.

I will also choose you without hesitation, unwavering.

It can only be you.

Until death do us part.

*

Lu Xixiao’s nose tingled when he heard that answer.

He had traversed thousands of miles of mountains, finally seeing that person walking towards him through the vast snow, that person who had taken such a winding path.

“Did it hurt?” he asked.

“A little,” Zhou Wan answered honestly, then deliberately joked to lighten the mood, “Last time when I asked if yours hurt, you said it didn’t – that’s how you tricked me into getting one too.”

Lu Xixiao’s fingertips repeatedly stroked gently over her collarbone.

Unable to let go while aching with tenderness.

After a pause, he bent down, placing a burning kiss on her collarbone, particularly reverent, like bowing in allegiance.

Zhou Wan’s eyelashes trembled lightly, feeling his emotions, and gripped his hand tightly: “Let’s go home.”

“Okay.”

Neither of them brought up what happened online.

They had been like this since they were seventeen or eighteen – the world was bustling and noisy, but their world was isolated, left with only each other’s voices.

Silent yet intense collisions.

Lu Xixiao had never cared about others’ views and judgments.

And as long as he didn’t care, Zhou Wan could also manage not to care.

Back home, Zhou Wan took out the cake.

Several hours had passed since she picked up the cake, but thanks to her careful attention, it was still intact and exquisite.

She lit the candles and turned off the lights.

In the dim room, only candlelight remained.

“Lu Xixiao, make a wish,” Zhou Wan said.

He looked at Zhou Wan and said softly: “Stay with me forever.”

“Okay.” Zhou Wan’s eyes curved, her smile radiant, captivating, “I’ll help you make this wish come true.”

With a lifetime.

Lu Xixiao leaned in to kiss her, their lips and teeth entangling. A moment later he couldn’t help but bite her lip, using some force, like venting frustration, yet with an inexplicable relief: “I waited eight years.”

Zhou Wan was hurt by the bite and drew back: “Hm?”

“Finally raised you to be sensible.”

He smiled and pecked her lips, saying softly, “Our Wan Wan has grown up.”

He knew how difficult Zhou Wan’s changes had been.

Those habitual tendencies to escape and self-loathe were shaped bit by bit through her growing experiences, not easily changed or reversed, but she still chose to stand beside him.

In this process, she struggled and tossed, but still made the most unwavering decision.

Zhou Wan laughed lightly: “You talk as if you’re much older than me.”

“Being one year older is still older.”

Lu Xixiao lowered his eyes, his fingertips gently stroking under her eyes, “Wan Wan, these years have been hard.”

Those times of being alone.

Those times of guilt and self-blame.

Those times of self-loathing.

All have been hard.

Now the bitterness has turned sweet, we can both stand openly in the sunlight, fearless of worldly judgment and rumors.

Zhou Wan paused, suddenly feeling her nose tingle.

From beginning to end, Lu Xixiao had been the person who understood her best.

For a moment, she felt that Lu Xixiao hadn’t just wiped away her current tears, but had wiped away the tears of that little Zhou Wan who repeatedly despised and scorned herself.

“Lu Xixiao.” Zhou Wan held back the tightness in her throat, “I’m so fortunate to have met you.”

Because of you, I can forgive all the things that happened to me.

“Me too, fortunate to have you,” Lu Xixiao said softly.

*

This incident fermented and escalated over the entire night, with many media outlets going to interview Guo Xiangling. She probably lied about being sick, and netizens even started donating money.

Early the next morning, Lu Xixiao woke up first, and Zhou Wan followed shortly after.

“Sleep a bit more,” Lu Xixiao said. “Don’t go to work today, take a day off. I’ll handle this matter.”

“It’s fine, this was caused by me in the first place, I can’t face it.”

Lu Xixiao frowned, still worried she would face attacks.

When information is unequal, people subconsciously tend to side with the weaker party.

Zhou Wan held his hand: “Don’t worry, this matter was just taken out of context. I’ve done nothing wrong, so I won’t bear false accusations.”

She had worked hard growing up alone, finally changing from the weaker to the stronger party, yet was being blamed unfairly – there was no logic in that.

After a night, Zhou Wan had calmed down again, understanding that running away wouldn’t solve anything.

“Alright.” Lu Xixiao ruffled her hair, “Tell me anytime if anything happens.”

“Mm.”

After getting ready, Lu Xixiao drove her to work.

She arrived early today, and no one was in the office when she entered. After waiting a while, everyone gradually arrived.

Everyone already knew what happened yesterday, and didn’t know how to bring it up appropriately. Though they didn’t want to believe Zhou Wan was that kind of person, they also couldn’t ask about privacy she didn’t want to discuss.

At this time, the chief editor walked in: “Zhou Wan, come here for a moment.”

Zhou Wan stood up and walked into the chief editor’s office.

“Chief Editor, I’m sorry,” she said proactively upon entering. “My matter has brought criticism to the whole newspaper. I’m willing to accept any handling.”

“Even dismissal?”

Zhou Wan pressed her lips together: “Mm.”

The chief editor clicked her tongue: “That won’t do. Unless someday you want to switch jobs, I won’t let talent like you go.”

Zhou Wan was stunned, raising her head.

The chief editor smiled: “I’ve seen many people and things in this position, and I pride myself on my judgment of character. I know what kind of person you are. Every family has its difficulties – I won’t force you to talk about what you don’t want to. The internet is just like this. Wait a bit, the heat will naturally die down.”

Zhou Wan’s throat bobbed: “…Thank you, Chief Editor.”

“What’s there to thank? Doing right by yourself is most important.”

“Mm, I understand.”

Chief Editor: “Alright, go on with your work.”

“There’s one more thing I’d like to trouble you with,” Zhou Wan said. “I can wait for myself, but in this matter, whether past or present, my boyfriend is too innocent. I can take the criticism, but he has no reason to bear false accusations, so I want to come forward to clarify, at least tell the truth, and let people judge right from wrong.”

The chief editor was stunned, then smiled: “Good.”

She stood up and patted Zhou Wan’s shoulder, “I’ll go tell Ah Ming to prepare.”

From interviewer to interviewee.

Zhou Wan sat in the chair, looking at the camera lens on the tripod opposite her, and slowly began: “Hello everyone, I’m Zhou Wan.”

“The woman in that photo is indeed my birth mother. She came to find me because she owed loan sharks money. I refused to help her repay the debt and asked her not to harass me again. Besides this, there are some stories about the past that people don’t know.”

“When I was ten years old, my father fell ill. Treatment would cost a lot of money, with no end in sight. My father didn’t want to waste money on treatment, hoping that money could be saved for our future living expenses. She agreed not to treat him. Later, not long after, my father passed away. Within a month, she took all the money my father had left and abandoned me, leaving just me and my grandmother, living on my grandmother’s pension.”

“But my grandmother had uremia and needed dialysis to maintain her life, requiring a sum of money every month. I’ve done many part-time jobs since I was young – tutoring, minding shops, waiting tables… I’ve done it all. I worked very, very hard to earn money, but it still wasn’t enough to live on. I didn’t want to ask her for money, I just wanted to get back one of the sums of money father had left to treat grandmother’s illness, but she refused.”

Zhou Wan looked into the camera, laying bare those old stories, exposing them to sunlight.

“I’m indeed not as good as everyone used to think. I’m not pure or innocent. I hate her – hate her for betraying my father, hate her for abandoning me, hate her for watching my grandmother die without help.”

“There’s an old saying: poverty breeds treachery, while wealth nurtures conscience.”

“I’ve always lived in fear of not having money, truly not knowing how to become a pure and kind good person.”

“Later she got together with a wealthy man, but I just couldn’t stand seeing her live well. I stubbornly thought, why should someone like her find happiness? I would do anything just to destroy her life then.”

“So I set my sights on that wealthy man’s son. I thought, if I could be with him, she wouldn’t be able to continue living in luxury.”

She exposed all those dark, unspeakable thoughts.

She spoke slowly, her voice deep yet light, pouring out everything from the past.

Including that she truly liked Lu Xixiao.

Liked him from the very beginning.

Liked him without any purpose or impurity.

They had been like any ordinary couple, watching fireworks, seeing snow, going to amusement parks, and experiencing happiness, jealousy, and arguments.

But fate played tricks on them.

She learned that her grandmother’s death was inextricably linked to Guo Xiangling.

That was her only family member, the one she depended on for survival.

At that moment, her eyes were blinded by overwhelming hatred. She couldn’t see anything – if there had been a knife nearby, she might have killed Guo Xiangling directly.

Everything that happened afterward was beyond her control, more like the turning of fate’s gears, pushing her step by step to a point of no return.

They broke up.

She left Pingchuan City, coming alone to a strange city.

Since then, she never contacted Guo Xiangling again.

Then, six and a half years later in B City.

After much mutual struggle, they finally compromised and got back together.

“I’ve never tasted much sweetness in this life, always suffering bad things for various reasons. Only Lu Xixiao has consistently and firmly chosen me.”

Even her birth mother didn’t want her.

Only Lu Xixiao treated her like a precious treasure.

“And in this whole matter, he was passive and innocent. He shouldn’t bear any condemnation because of me.”

“Old stories aren’t buried just because time passes. At least those lonely days and nights remind me to remember – I still hate her, and cannot forgive everything she did, but I don’t want any more entanglement with her. I just hope we can remain strangers until death.”

“Perhaps some won’t understand what I’ve done, but I won’t change. My kindness to return good for evil was long ago exhausted through repeated encounters and hardships. Why should I cast aside grudges and show no resentment when she ignored me when I needed her most, yet now comes looking for me?”

Zhou Wan’s eyes were somewhat round, appearing gentle and young, without aggression, but she carried a natural, childlike gravity.

She sat by the backlit window, facing the camera lens, with gathered colleagues beyond.

She sat alone, straightening her thin back, her whole being radiating gentle stubbornness.

Like standing alone against worldly opposition.

“Since things have come to this, I want to take this opportunity to say to Guo Xiangling – after all, we probably won’t have another chance to speak from now on.”

Her voice remained gentle but was entwined with clean-cut determination, each word distinct and resonant, “Guo Xiangling, our mother-daughter fate ended the year you abandoned me. From now on, I will have no more involvement with you. You don’t love me, and I won’t love you. Your future has nothing to do with me.”

The filming ended.

Zhou Wan stood up, returning to her usual demeanor, and bowed deeply to her colleagues standing before her: “I’m sorry for troubling everyone with my affairs. Thank you for your hard work.”

As she walked out, suddenly Ji Jie rushed over, throwing her arms around her in a tight embrace.

Zhou Wan stumbled back several steps from the impact, barely managing to hold her.

“Wan Wan.” Ji Jie sniffled, “Why didn’t you tell me any of this yesterday?”

Zhou Wan was stunned for a moment, then smiled: “Well, I’m telling you all now, aren’t I?”

“Those people online don’t understand anything but still talk nonsense, they’re just aiding evil.” Ji Jie said, “Don’t worry, if that woman dares come again, I’ll beat her away myself. How can anyone be such a mother? She dares to come find you, it’s too much!”

Uncle Ye nearby also said: “Don’t worry, we’re all on your side. Whatever happens, we’ll face it together.”

Other colleagues also chimed in with agreement.

Zhou Wan’s eyes grew hot, unable to express her current feelings beyond gratitude.

She had never experienced such overwhelming kindness and warmth before.

She thought that although these words were spoken with a clear conscience, they might not necessarily be believed. But everyone believed her without hesitation, standing on her side.

Even when everything was unclear, they had never spoken ill of her.

Zhou Wan truly felt that after completely saying goodbye to the past, the people and things she encountered afterward also became better.

She had truly stepped out of darkness into the sunlight, step by step.

“Thank you, everyone,” she smiled with tears in her eyes. “Thank you.”

“What’s there to thank?”

The chief editor patted her shoulder, “Let’s do something practical – treat everyone to coffee this afternoon.”

Zhou Wan smiled: “Okay.”

In the afternoon.

Zhou Wan ordered coffee for everyone in the newspaper office.

Everyone temporarily set aside their work to process the video she recorded in the morning – editing, adding subtitles, writing copy, adding images – aiming to release this clarification video before getting off work.

Zhou Wan felt apologetic and went out to buy some cake to share with everyone.

Racing against time, they finally finished processing the video and text before closing time.

The editor sent the complete version to Zhou Wan: “See if this works, or if anything needs to be added or modified.”

Zhou Wan carefully watched it through.

Besides her recorded video, the text portion also laid out a timeline of all past events between her and Guo Xiangling, stating everything completely, point by point, incident by incident, like listing evidence.

It was clear a lot of effort had gone into it.

Zhou Wan replied: “It’s good, thank you, Sister Xian.”

But just as they were preparing to publish, Lu Xixiao’s company officially released a long Weibo post.

It included a photo, a photo of Zhou Wan, casually taken, not very clear.

The background was an arcade, dimly lit, with red lights from game machines interweaving. Zhou Wan stood in front of all this, wearing a clean short-sleeved school uniform, young and pure. Her expression was a bit dazed, clearly unprepared for the photo.

Zhou Wan looked at it for a while, recognizing it.

This was the first photo Lu Xixiao ever took of her.

That day was his birthday, and she had given him a picture frame.

Her gaze paused slightly, then continued reading the text portion—

I am Lu Xixiao, Zhou Wan’s boyfriend.

This photo of Zhou Wan was taken on my 18th birthday. She was working part-time at the arcade then, and that’s where we met, where our entanglement began.

At that time, Zhou Wan had excellent grades, and was smart and outstanding, while I was living terribly. For a long time, I willingly degraded myself, playing through life, coming and going freely through various relationships and affairs.

It was she who firmly took my hand, leading me out of the dead end I had trapped myself in.

She showed me the meaning of life, the meaning of existence.

She made me pick up textbooks again, and start studying again, no longer living aimlessly and idly all day.

Without her, I wouldn’t be who I am today.

I’ve liked her since I was 18.

I’ve seen her cry because of Guo Xiangling, seen her self-loathing. Guo Xiangling forced her to be unable to become a perfectly kind person without blemish, while her true self stood at a moral high ground, constantly criticizing and despising herself.

The day her grandmother passed coincided with a physics competition. She didn’t attend and disappeared for many days. When I found her, the gas was on at home – it almost became an accident.

And throughout it all, Guo Xiangling never appeared.

Back then, we were like two lonely islands, drifting aimlessly through the world, only able to depend on each other, comfort each other, supporting each other to keep going step by step.

Zhou Wan and I aren’t just lovers, we’re also the closest family, comrades fighting side by side.

Long before Guo Xiangling got together with my father, Zhou Wan already liked me; and before I knew about this, I had already fallen for her.

If anyone wants to say our relationship is perverted or immoral, then it started with me, having nothing to do with her.

After Zhou Wan left, I was the one who couldn’t forget her, I was the one who insisted on bringing her home after reuniting with her in B City, and I was the one who pursued her to be with me again.

We’re not saints.

And I don’t love saints.

From the beginning, I saw through her sharp edges and thorns.

I love her brilliance, and I love her scars.

All of this makes up the vivid Zhou Wan. I don’t need her to be kind and pure, I just want her to be free and happy, bold in love and hate, open and genuine.

In the end, she is my Zhou Wan, not everyone’s Zhou Wan.

She doesn’t need to live up to what the public likes. She is herself, doesn’t need to be responsible for public preferences, and doesn’t need to tear open scars to satisfy everyone’s voyeuristic desires. She just needs to have a clear conscience.

As for the aftermath of this incident, I have already filed lawsuits against the media that reported out of context and made false accusations, as well as against Guo Xiangling for her lies and defamation of Zhou Wan. You can await the court’s verdict.

Below are several images of the lawsuit notices.

And Lu Xixiao’s signature.

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